“I’m being prosecuted for an expressive act — smoking a joint,” he says. “But it’s not simply about the act of smoking, so at that point it becomes a First Amendment issue. There are better places to get high than Independence National Park.”

Following a short hearing yesterday, officials decided to go ahead with a federal district court case for a simple marijuana possession charge stemming from an Smoke Down Prohibition protest in August. His second citation in a year at the time — the first from June's Smoke Down Prohibition — prompted the U.S. Attorney’s Office to request a federal case instead of a fine, as has become common under Seth Williams’s “smart on crime” approach to marijuana law enforcement. But given the sudden crackdown on the Smoke Down protests, it would seem that its organizers, of whom Goldstein is one, are being made an example of. In fact, Goldstein was never even given the option to pay the fine, as shown in his citation pictured here.

Also charged is Libertarian New Jersey Senate candidate Don DeZarn, who, like Goldstein, could face up to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine in a concurrent incident. Up until receiving notice of yesterday's hearing, neither party had any contact with police officials since being issued the citations over the summer.

The joint Panic Hour/NORML Smoke Down Prohibition protests have become somewhat of a fixture in the Philadelphia activist community, having started this past December after the Obama administration declared it had “bigger fish to fry” than the nation’s illegal marijuana consumers. Increasingly, though, that bit of rhetoric is appearing alarmingly thin.

“They’ve got bigger fish to fry, so long as you’re quiet about it,” Goldstein says. “But certainly we’re not telling homosexuals who want the right to marry or women who want the right to vote to be quiet and not march. This is no different.”

But, of course, you don’t smoke pot at a national park en masse without expecting at least a little bit of trouble, and, in fact, the Panic Hour crew has been explicit with participants that they very likely will be arrested during the protest. It is, to some degree, the point. However, arrests didn’t begin at Smoke Down Prohibition protests until about May, giving the Panic Hour crew five months of peaceful demonstration before trouble began.

“The intolerance switch flipped in May,” says Goldstein. “Seven different agencies started showing up, and it essentially became a raid.”

The agencies to which Goldstein refers include the SEPTA Transit Police, Philly Police, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and the Department of Homeland Security — along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Goldberg, among others. Typically, those detained at the Independence National Park protests for possession face a simple fine after being escorted to tents set up to process them. Few prior incidents at Smoke Down have resulted in a federal court appearance, and, indeed, the same can be said for national marijuana possession arrests. Which, of course, is what makes Goldstein and DeZarn’s cases unique.

“We’ve been protesting in Philadelphia for years with the South Street march, which never saw an arrest,” Goldstein says. “There is no reason for this against known peaceful protesters.”

The other notable arrest from Smoke Down protests came in May, when police charged comedian/activist N.A. Poe (real name Richard Tamaccio) with resisting arrest, interfering, and assaulting a federal officer. Since then, he has been placed under conditional probation as part of a plea bargain that keeps him from being within 100 feet of a Smoke Down protest so that he can’t “be on site to incite and direct,” he says. Ultimately, though, banning him won’t stop anything.

“I’m the perfect martyr after my arrest. Even if I’m on probation, the kick in the ass to the movement can’t be underestimated,” he says. “I mean, we’re not a crime family — we’re trying to raise awareness.”

As it stands, Smoke Down is the only regularly occurring protest against our federal marijuana laws, so that awareness is coming at a price. But, in recent months, we’ve begun to see just how much the federal government is willing to spend to fight the political debate. The sudden surge in response we’ve seen is not, in fact, over Goldstein, Poe, and DeZarn smoking a joint — it is, though, about organizing a protest about smoking joints. After all, as Goldstein says, there are “more fun places to get high” than Independence National Park, and less law enforcement-laden, too.

Perhaps that’s why, increasingly, it seems like the federal government wants Smoke Down to just go away — targeting those most vocal organizers behind its public presence makes little sense otherwise. But with the tenth Smoke Down Prohibition coming up tomorrow, that day seems more than a little far off. After all, this latest heat hasn’t scared anyone off anyone instrumental.

Goldstein will be attending himself, though he won’t be participating in the customary moment of “cannabis reflection” that has landed him in a federal court this winter. Should Goldstein get cited a third time this year, it’s likely that he’ll end up in custody immediately. “There will be plenty of others participating in civil disobedience — this is bigger than a couple of people,” he says, indicating that, federal case or no, there’s an undercurrent of conviction here that prosecution won’t easily change.

Poe, however, remains banned from entering within 100 feet of a protest. But with this weekend’s demonstration looking more like a festivity thanks to the addition of Halloween costumes into the mix, that ban is starting to look a little shaky. After all, who’s to say who the man behind the banana suit or pirate patch smoking that bone really is?

"A Halloween Smoke Down offers people a unique opportunity to come out of the cannabis closet. The ability to come to this protest in costume allows a certain amount of anonymity, possibly enough that I may just grab a mask and try to blend in myself,” he says.

Be respectful of our online community and contribute to an engaging conversation. We reserve the right to ban impersonators and remove comments that contain personal attacks, threats, or profanity, or are flat-out offensive. By posting here, you are permitting Philadelphia magazine and Metro Corp. to edit and republish your comment in all media.

joe smith

Print out your own merry mask right here. And wear it to Smokedown Prohibition #10

Pro tip: If you cut the mouth hole of the N.a. Poe one , you can have hours of quality time with it and a nice warm cantaloupe.

How can you ban someone from a protest? We have the right to peacefully assemble. They can’t just issue a restraining order for the event on your behalf because they don’t like the content of the protest. Those judges have failed their oath.

Nick Vadala

According to a Philly.com article, as part of Poe’s probation for his charges, the US Attorney’s Office recommended the following:

“banning Tamaccio from entering Independence National Historic Park in connection with any meeting, gathering or demonstration unless approved by a probation officer; banning Tamaccio from associating with any others arrested for pot possession at marijuana events in the park or organizers of such events; and no further arrests during his probationary period.”

So, basically, banning him from the park keeps him 100 feet from the protests because that’s where they’re held.

I’m relieved to learn that agents from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are on the case, making arrests of citizens expressing their opinions near the Liberty Bell.

Opinions are dangerous to fish, and can be fatal to wildlife. Especially at the Liberty Bell.

Robert Platshorn

The problem is that these demonstrations are only taking place in Philly. If they were going on all over the country, the public and national press would take more notice and the feds would have to issue a national policy response. It’s disappointing that only Philadelphia NORML has the heart and determination to keep this up till they bring about change. If other NORML chapters or local groups were doing the same, legalization would be on a fast track. I’m not surprised that Philadelphia Freedom is alive and well. It’s long past time for activists to come out from behind the rocks and phony names, and stand tall in the sunlight to be counted. Leaving it to “the other guy” is why the federal government and so many states are still without sensible marijuana laws. Chris Goldstien has stood beside me and every activist group with a venue, it’s time everyone joined Chris in this fight.

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